Lynne Peeples on the ways modern life interferes with our circadian rhythms – and what we can do to sleep better

Sleep deficiency tugs at our personal happiness, costs the US economy $45bn a year and takes an enormous toll on our health. For her extensively researched book, The Inner Clock, the environmental science writer Lynne Peeples spoke with some 240 scientists, chronobiologists, athletes, astronauts and “chrono-coaches” (yes, that’s a thing) and even embedded in a windowless underground Arkansas bunker in order to experience body-clock disruption first-hand.

For anyone who suffers from sleep issues, gets thrown off by daylight saving time or has a variable work schedule, Peeples’ insights come as a bracing slap in the face. Not getting the rest we need can impair our physical and mental health – sometimes to drastic degrees.